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A bill to regulate mixed martial arts has passed the New York State Senate and will go to the Assembly next. You can find more info about the Senate passage in a story on LoHud.com.

What I found in that article is continued ignorance from New York government regarding mixed martial arts.

“We’re not teaching young people how to be adults,” said Sen. William Larkin, R-New Windsor, Orange County. “We’re teaching young people how to be hoodlums. Look what they do on this show: pound one another, kick one another.”

“I don’t think there is anything sporting about Ultimate Fighting,” Savino said. “It is barbarism portrayed on television for people so that they can watch it and be entertained.”

First off, there is no such thing as “Ultimate Fighting”. What Diane Savino is trying to reference in her quote is a sport called Mixed Martial Arts. I find it humorous that these government officials have so little information going into an important vote like this.

As far as there being “no sport” in mixed martial arts, that is ludicrous. Teaching young people to be hoodlums? Really?

I challenge these uninformed Senators to go to any MMA gym, strap on a pair of boxing gloves and shin pads, and throw some punch kick combinations. Then hit the mats and learn how to apply an arm bar, follow that up with one hundred double leg take downs, maybe a few sprawls. After that workout, tell me how you feel about MMA not being a “sport”. You would realize the discipline it takes to successfully execute these maneuvers, and I don’t see how that would teach anyone to be a “hoodlum”. Training mixed martial arts teaches you discipline, an acquired character trait that carries over into every aspect of life.

Anyway, the Assembly vote is important. I will be keeping a close eye on this, and hopefully the MMA bill passes there as well.

Web programmer by day, practicing mixed martial artist at night, Larry Vollmer Jr. brings the latest news from the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the rest of the mixed martial arts world - a fast-spreading obsession on TV and online. These are the bouts - they occur in an octagon-shaped "ring" - that test men's souls.